Former Temple running back Matt Brown signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday night. Like any other undrafted free agent, he will have a lot to prove between now and August if he wants to make an NFL roster. But if not for an expired passport, he may not have even had the opportunity.

On Thursday, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer shared with us the “everything happens for a reason” moment Brown recently experienced. The 2012 Big East special teams player of the year agreed to a contract with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League earlier this month. Brown was scheduled to fly to Saskatchewan on Tuesday night to sign the deal, but he was unable to board his flight out of Baltimore because his passport had expired.

Brown was traveling to Philadelphia on Wednesday morning to get a new passport when his phone rang. It was his agent, informing the 5-foot-5, 165-pound running back that the Bucs had offered him a contract. Rather than flying to Saskatchewan, Brown flew to Tampa and signed with his new NFL team.

We have heard some bizarre stories about passports having to do with the NFL before, but Brown’s is incredible. Had he brought the appropriate documentation with him to the airport, he’d be under contract with a CFL team right now. That’s pretty amazing.